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The Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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The play the Crucible, by Arthur Miller was set in 17th century in the town of Salem. People in the town were very spiritual. Most of them believed in not only God, but also the devil. Additionally, they thought that witches existed and they thought that they were guided by the devil. there was often talk of witchcraft in Salem, especially in the weeks leading up to the story. There was already hysteria about witches in the town when a girl named Abigail was caught practicing witchcraft along with many other girls in the woods. Soon after things escalated and there became a full blown witch hunt in Salem. Abigail caused the trials, but not alone and that was only possible due to the already existing hysteria in the town. The Reverend in the town was named Reverend Parris. Like the rest of Salem, Parris also strongly believed in witchcraft. In the beginning of Act one he says, “A wide opinion running in the parish that the Devil may be among us ” (The Crucible 26). Many children were dying in the town and the people feared it was the devil. This shows that there was already suspicion of witchcraft in Salem prior to the girls staging. To satisfy the people’s fear, Parris invited Reverend hale, who was an expert in studying witchcraft, to Salem to investigate. Parris invited Reverend Hale before …show more content…

Their allegiance to Abigail made the staging of the attacking spirits much more believable. Therefore, when Abigail began accusing people, the rest of the girls jumped in and did the same. Judges were called to the town to hold a hearings for the accused witches. Abigail and her friends were the accusers and were there to testify. As soon as Abigail began acting like she was being attacked, all the girls immediately joined her. Although Betty may have taken the first step, Abigail was ultimately the leader in these accusations, and therefore the cause of the guilty

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Second, Abigail not only accused people herself, but she was able to convince other girls to accuse as well. For example, in Act 1, at the end of the scene, girls began to shout out names of people that they supposedly witness commit witchcraft. Translated, Abigail was so power

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878 Words | 4 Pages

One day in Salem Massachusetts, a girl name Betty Parris became very ill. The night before she became very ill, she was caught dancing in the woods with her cousin, Abigail Williams and many other girls. Back in those days dancing, or any fun at all was frowned upon. So when Betty became ill after dancing and she had nothing wrong with her health, Parris and others thought that it was witchcraft. To save herself from getting in trouble, Abigail confessed that it was witchcraft.

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1033 Words | 5 Pages

Reverend Parris’s daughter has become ill, and some suspect that it is because of witchcraft. As a result, Hale is called into Salem to inspect the matter, and Miller provides details about how Hale takes pride in his profession, in which he states, “This is a beloved errand for him; on being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has at

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1743 Words | 7 Pages

The play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is about the Salem witch trials of 1692 witch resulted in the death of nineteen innocent people. The plot begins in a small Puritan community in Salem, Massachusetts when Abigail Williams and several other young girls were caught in the woods dancing around a fire by her uncle Reverend Parris. His appearance shocked some of the girls into silence. The strange behavior of the girls resulted in many of the townspeople to turn to witchcraft as the cause of their behavior.

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700 Words | 3 Pages

At this point this shows the selfish side of Parris, After finding out that there was the possibility of witchcraft Parris wanted everyone to keep it a secret so the outbreak wouldn’t spread throughout the village an reckon his name. For someone that has the position of being a Reverend and having a child or family member convicted of witchcraft was a big deal that could result in mass rumors and even the loss of the position. For someone who was conceided an valued there name and position this was a big deal. This was exactly the person Parris was he only cared about his name and his position and not as much about his family and especially his

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586 Words | 3 Pages

Reverend Parris had called him to come to Salem from Beverly to help with all the witchcraft trials. “We shall need hard study if it comes to tracking down the Old Boy.” (Miller, 184) He had helped in any way he could when it came down to the trials, but was very angry when it was about John Proctor. John Hale knew that Proctor wouldn’t do something like this, especially witchcraft. “Excellency, it is enough he confesses himself.

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1097 Words | 5 Pages

When Reverend Hale was first introduced into the play, it was that Reverend Parris had asked Hale to come down and assist in the pursuit of the evil that was devouring their small town whole. Hale was cautious at first in accepting situations that people believe have witchery involved. Considering he is recognized for his authority on witchcraft and the devil, Hale initially comes off as arrogant and authoritative. Although Hale never accused anyone of witchcraft, he just asked questions about it, he is more than ready to investigate and rid Salem of any demonic influences. In Act I, Hale arrives with his heavy books of authority.

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777 Words | 4 Pages

In the beginning of the book, he feared that his reputation will be ruined if the town found out that Betty was under a curse of witchcraft: “I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character” (Miller 464). This shows that Parris realized that if the town found out that if his household contains any forms of witchcraft, then the people will run him out of the town. Because of that, he denied that Betty was cursed and called for Reverend Hale to find out what was happening. In addition, near the end of the book, he feared that someone would kill him if he doesn’t put an end to the witch trials: “Tonight, when I open my door to leave my house- a dagger clattered to the ground. You cannot hang this sort.

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668 Words | 3 Pages

Abigail masters many talents, but her best talent; scapegoating, has convinced many of the people around her to disregard and free herself from possibly being accused. Abigail is in court and somehow the accusing finger is shifting towards her, to derail herself from that she screams: “She made me do it! She made Betty do

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1257 Words | 6 Pages

The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.

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585 Words | 3 Pages

Hale is a critical, Christian thinker who questions himself on what is right and wrong. He is a person who wants to know and find the truth with evidence. Hale wants to find the truths in the accusations, differently than Parris. In contrast, Parris is the minister of Salem's church who is paranoid about his name in the village. All Parris wants from the trials is land from people who get hanged, instead of the truth behind it all.

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731 Words | 3 Pages

Parris is the minister of Salem’s church. Parris is not well-liked in Salem and he is the uncle of Abigail Williams, who is the reason all of this witchcraft nonsense broke out in the first place. “How can it be the Devil? Why would he choose my house to strike? We have all manner of licentious people in the village!”

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563 Words | 3 Pages

In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, Abigail Williams and her friends, along with Tituba, the slave of Reverend Parris are caught in the woods dancing around a fire. This event and rumors associated with it sparked a Salem-wide witch hunt, which resulted in the death of hundreds of innocent people. The theme of The Crucible can be summed up in a quote from the eighteenth century politician Edmund Burke, who says,¨When good men do nothing, evil triumphs.¨ Which is shown through The Red Scare, and the actions of the townspeople in Salem. After reading The Crucible the connection between the Red Scare and the events of the Salem witch trials becomes very prevalent.

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764 Words | 4 Pages

Hale was banned from going to see Rebecca nurse, Proctor's wife, and martha corey, but he goes and prasy with them because it is the least he can do, now that they are going to get hung because of him. He tries to get them to confess because if they confess then they won't be

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1185 Words | 5 Pages

People in the town of Salem are all furious and upset with the current witch trial that are taking place. The prosecution that the court has provided is that Abigail, Mary, Danforth, and Hale all provided factual information and truthful evidence to those that have been accused of witchcraft. They are trying to prove that those accused are practicing and using witchcraft, and that the accusers are trustworthy, reliable people who have no reason to be doubted. The main problem with the previous trial were caused by Abigail, Mary, Danforth, and Hale. Abigail Williams is an unreliable and untrustworthy person.

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